GARY MASON

Voice Over Talent

443.624.3014

gary@garymasonvo.com

Voice Over

A bit about ACX

General, Getting Started, P2P Sites, Voice Over

Welcome Back!

Thanks for reading, and if you are a new subscriber; Welcome and thanks for joining us! This week let’s talk a little bit about Amazon/Audible’s Audiobook Creation Exchange – ACX.

What IS ACX?

In short, ACX is an online casting site that matches the Rights Holders (RH) of (most often) independent books with narrators for the purpose of producing audiobooks from the author’s titles.  The RH of a book is the person or company that holds the rights to the audio version of a book.  Most often, on ACX, the RH is the author themselves, but sometimes it is a publishing company or an individual who has purchased the rights from the author.

Who owns the rights?

Typically, the author of the book is the original RH for all versions of the book.  Depending on how the book is originally published, and what the contractual arrangement with a publisher may be, the RH COULD be the publisher of the book or maybe even a third party who has managed to purchase the rights from the original RH.  For books in the public domain there MAY not BE a RH at all.  It can get pretty confusing, but generally, on ACX, the RH is either the publisher or author of the work.  What you need to know is this: SOMEONE (not you) owns the rights to the audio version of a book.

How does it work?

The concept behind ACX is pretty simple: A RH posts their title to ACX (The print or kindle version of the book must be available on Amazon to qualify) and then narrators audition.  The RH selects a narrator, offers the book to them and after negotiating rates there is a contract through ACX that describes the terms of the relationship.  All pretty straightforward in concept.  If only it were that simple in execution.

Good, Bad and Ugly.

There is good and bad (and sometimes a little ugly) on the ACX platform though, and since people are involved, of course it gets a little more complicated in execution.

Types of contracts through ACX.

Generally speaking, there are three types of relationships between RH’s and narrators on ACX: Royalty Share (RS), Per Finished Hour (PFH) and a hybrid call RS Plus (RS+).  Each has advantages and disadvantages that you need to be aware of, so let’s spend a little time talking about that.

Royalty Share.

Essentially, a RS arrangement means that the RH offers the book for production and the narrator produces the book without any money changing hands up front. Once the book is complete, and passes ACX QA standards, the audio version of the book goes on sale at Audible, Amazon and iTunes.  For each sale of the audio version, the cover price is split between ACX, the RH and the narrator.  ACX (which is owned by Amazon, BTW.) takes 60% for their part (which is a pretty high percentage IMHO, but that’s a topic for a different day) and the RH and narrator split the remaining 40% 50/50.  ACX tracks sales, and pays both the RH and narrator monthly.

For the math wizards out there…

Just in case, like me, you don’t do math problems easily in your head, that means both the RH and narrator each take 20% of the cost of the book.  It doesn’t sound too bad, but the majority of audiobooks sold through ACX are based on “credits” and the cover price typically doesn’t account for much.  Neither the RH nor the narrator have any say in what the cover price is.  My experience is that the 20% cut for most books produced amounts to $2.00 or less.  Usually less.  Usually, WAY less.  You can make money doing RS titles, but if you want to support yourself this way it becomes a numbers game – you need to produce a lot of titles.

Per Finished Hour.

On a PFH contract, the RH and narrator negotiate a rate of pay for each finished hour of an audiobook. The narrator is paid that rate, times the actual number of finished audio hours that comprises the finished product.  WHEN the payment is made is negotiated directly between the RH and narrator; ACX is not involved at all in the payment for PFH titles.  Typically, a narrator must pass the first 15 minute checkoint with the RH before expecting even partial payment, but it is really up to you to negotiate that with the RH.  If you are working with someone for the first time, it’s probably a good idea to ask for some portion of the estimated number of finished hours after the first 15 minute checkpoint and before the book is produced.

A bit about rates.

I’ve talked about VO rates in a previous post, but just a quick aside about audiobook rates.  First, ALWAYS check the GVAA Rate Guide, but generally speaking $250 Per Finished hour is the MINIMUM you should be working for. If your project is RS+, you should be asking for about ½ of whatever PFH rate you charge (minimum $125).  If not, at LEAST make sure you are asking for enough to cover any production costs such as an audio editor or proofer.

Royalty Share Plus.

RS+ titles are a hybrid of the RS and PFH model.  The RH and narrator negotiate a reduced PFH amount and then share in the royalties based on sales.  The reduced PFH rate is paid directly to the narrator by the RH, and the royalties are paid monthly by ACX.  This model allows the narrator to cover production costs and reduces the risk of not making any money on a given title.

Risk.

Speaking of risk, if you’ve followed along so far, you’ll note that for the narrator RS is the riskiest model.  Since on average it takes anywhere from 2-8 hours of work to produce ONE finished hour of audio (based on the narrators experience and workflow), the narrator can spend many hours on an RS title, only to have it not sell very well. Since you only get paid with this model when the title sells, if it DOESN’T sell you (as the narrator) get paid a pittance for a lot of work.  PFH is riskiest for the RH (and least risky for the narrator) and RS+ means the RH and narrator SHARE the risk.

Much less risk…

Have you noticed who is NOT really at risk here?  Right, ACX.  Don’t get me wrong, ACX (a la Amazon) is providing a service, and should be compensated for that.  I’m just not sure they should take the largest cut for the least amount of risk of ANY of the publishing models.

The good.

The good thing here is that the platform provides a way to connect RH’s and narrators to produce many audiobooks.  They have also established and enforce minimum quality standards so that really terrible (note I said MINIMUM quality standards) audiobooks are not published on their sites.  It’s likely that MANY very good audiobooks exist today thanks to the ACX platform, and likely many narrators exist that previously would only be “aspiring” narrators.

The bad.

There are, however, some bad things about ACX.  ACX does not vet the authors or the books up for production except to insist that the print or kindle versions are for sale on Amazon in order to be able to post them at ACX.  This means it is up to the narrator to vet the titles to decide if they might sell well.  ACX does provide some handy tools to do that, showing the narrator the Amazon ranking of the non-audio versions of the book along with a link to the title at Amazon so you can see reviews.  This helps you decide which titles to go for.  And there are some bad titles on the platform.  You’d think they could at LEAST make sure that the book is not chock-full of grammatical and spelling errors before allowing it to be listed.  This is not terrible I suppose, and narrators should absolutely insist on seeing the full finished manuscript BEFORE accepting an offer to produce anyway.

The ugly.

But it gets worse.  Not only are there some books by authors who just aren’t very talented there (which, I guess, goes under both good AND bad, maybe) there are also a LOT of scams.  When I say scams, what I mean is there are people who claim a title from Amazon as their own, but do not actually hold the rights to the title.  Typically, they offer the book as a RS project, have someone produce it and then they download the audio files for their own use once ACX takes the title down.  The narrator never gets paid.  Just today I saw a Harry Potter book on ACX offered as RS, and you just KNOW J.K Rowling is not posting that to ACX…besides, there is ALREADY an audio book published!  You’d think ACX could do SOMETHING to at least reduce the number of these offerings on their platform, but they don’t vet the books AT ALL.

Buyer beware.

Well, narrator beware anyway.  If you are going to work through ACX, you’ll need to get good at spotting scams and books that won’t sell well.  Remember that well known authors and their publishing houses are NOT listing books on ACX (generally) and when they do, they offer a decent PFH rate because they want to keep the full 40% of royalties.  As a general rule, always remember: If it seems too good to be true; it is.

At the end of the day…

ACX is, or CAN be, a great place for narrators to find titles to work on and connect with authors.  Just know that if you decide to start using ACX as a platform, you’ll need to be aware of the scams that lurk there, understand the payment models used, vet the titles well to decide if they’ll sell (if doing RS) and for PFH jobs make SURE you are negotiating a fair PFH rate!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

 

Skiing and Voice Over…or…DON’T GIVE UP!

Encouragement, General, Getting Started, Training, Voice Over

Welcome Back!

Thanks for reading, and if you are a new subscriber; Welcome and thanks for joining us! I know you were eagerly awaiting a post last week, but as I mentioned week before last, I was in Salt Lake City, Utah for my M-I-L’s 80th birthday.

UTAH

Have you ever been to Utah?  No? Neither had I till my met Karen, who grew up just outside Salt Lake City.  Man, what a beautiful place.  If you didn’t know, SLC sits in a VERY flat valley surrounded by gorgeous mountains.

This picture does not do it justice

We had a really great time this trip, and the birthday party was a HUGE success.  It’s really nice to celebrate a milestone birthday with someone and see how many people love them.  Happy Birthday mom!

A Funny Story

Yeah, I know this blog is supposed to be about Voice Over, I’ll get to that…but I have a funny story to tell you about one of my first trips to Utah.

You see, Karen grew up there (as I mentioned) and with perfect mountains all around, it is easy to understand why someone would become a skier.  Karen did.  I, on the other hand, grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and while Cleveland definitely has some things to offer (like Lake Erie!) the one thing it does NOT have is a mountain.  Hardly even a hill.

I was not a skier

But, when I started to date Karen, I agreed to give skiing a try since she liked it so much.  She got me hooked on golf, but THAT’S another story.  Anyway, we headed to Wisp (in MD) and I took about ½ day of lessons and practice on the bunny slope…and I was HOOKED!  I actually got the point where I could:

  1. Turn
  2. Stop
  3. Get ON the lift without falling
  4. Get OFF the lift without falling.

I was sure I was ready for the Olympics!  Well, not really, but I was CERTAIN I could do this skiing thing!

And then…Utah

So we were heading out to visit her mom in the winter and we decided we needed to bring all of our ski stuff so we could spend some time on the slopes while we were there.  It would be an understatement to say I was not prepared for what faced me there.  Just in case you weren’t aware, with an elevation of under 4000 feet,  Marsh Mountain in Garrett County Maryland (where Wisp Resort is located) PALES by comparison to the 11,000+ feet of the  Wasatch Mountains situated to the East of SLC and Snowbasin Ski resort, where Karen took me because they had “easy slopes”.

This is NOT your mama’s ski resort!

First, when you ski on the East Coast, it is a simple affair of getting on the lift, getting off the lift, skiing to the bottom, then getting on the lift and going to the top again.  If you want to go to a different slope, you just get on a different lift at the bottom…well, for the most part.  At any rate, it is SIMPLE.  At Snowbasin, you need a MAP.  Depending on where you park, you’ll probably need to SKI to the first lift, and then choose a run to take, then get on a different lift and head to another run.  You can easily get lost working your way around the mountain.

SLOPES!  HA!

The very first thing I noticed when we got out of the car and started to head downhill was:  There are no “slopes” on this mountain, and it is NOT a “hill”.  I found myself staring straight down (or so it seemed to me) a cliff.  Well, I suppose straight down is technically a slope, if you’re a mathematician:  I was far less worried about math, and a LOT more worried about dying on the mountain that day.

It MAY be a guy thing…

I don’t know, but when Karen and her friend gracefully headed down the “slope” (I’ll just call it that from now on I suppose), nice and smooth and at a reasonable pace, there was no WAY I was going to chicken out and not head down myself.  I refused to be shown up!

My skis

When I bought my shiny new skis, I told the 20-something guy helping me at the ski store that we were headed to Utah.  He selected the perfect pair of skis for me to ski in Utah.  Karen questioned the wisdom of the extra-long skis he chose, but I told her he assured me they were perfect.   If you’re a skier, you know that “extra-long” can be translated to “Very fast and difficult to control”.  **NOTE TO SELF**: Never listen to a 20-something ski guy when you are approaching 60 and just getting started.

WOW – They were FAST

If I even THOUGHT the word slope, my skis were headed downhill FAST and with a mind of their own!  I won’t bore you with details of each hill, just know that I spent more time trying to stand up on a steep angle and get my skis back on than I did actually skiing.  Karen and her friend, sadly, spent more time standing at the bottom of the hill laughing at me.  Even on the fall where I apparently broke a rib.  Skiing can be dangerous for an old brittle guy like me.

Exhaustion…but

By the time the girls were ready to quit, I was beat up, sore and exhausted.  I could barely stand.  Remember how I mentioned you need a map and could easily get lost?  Yeah, well we were about 3000 miles and several slopes/lifts away from the car.  Maybe not 3000 miles, maybe more like 3…but it FELT like 3000.  I was done, but I had to ski for another HOUR to leave.  I had no choice but to keep going or die on the side of the mountain.

What does that have to do with Voice Over?

I’m glad you asked!  The story of my first ski trip to Utah seems unrelated, but it reflects my (and I suppose many of your) journeys in Voice Over.

In the Beginning….

No, not Charleston Heston, but when we first start out in voice over, or any new endeavor really, it’s like that first day for me at Wisp on the bunny slope.  We take some lessons, get some coaching…and then one day it seems like we “get it”.  We can turn, stop, get on and off the lift without wiping out. It’s a great feeling, we MIGHT even book a small job and feel good about ourselves!

But one day…

But then, as we gain confidence, we “head to Utah” where we can begin trying out the big slopes.  Those higher paying Voice Over jobs.  Suddenly, we are competing with pros, people who have been doing this for years.  And then we spend a lot of time falling down and trying to get back up.  Thankfully, those seasoned pros aren’t standing at the bottom of the hill laughing at us, well, except on Facebook when we ask dumb questions that have been answered a million times.  Anyway, it feels like they are sometimes.

And then you may feel “done”

Or maybe not, but likely so.  Your legs will be shaking, your chest on fire from a broken rib…you may feel like you can’t continue, and you never want to do this again.  OK, not literally, but you get the point.  You may come to a point where you just want to throw in the towel and find something else to do.

DON’T

That’s right don’t do it!  Keep on going!  I know it’s not like you are stuck on the side of the mountain with no choice but to “keep skiing” but keep skiing anyway.  Make it back to the relative safety of the car.  Drive home, put your feet up, have an “adult beverage” or six (if you’re into that), and then gear up the next day and try again.  Maybe not the next day, maybe, like me, you need a week or so to let the fractured rib heal…take the time you need to get re-centered and then head out again.  Get some coaching, get a practice partner, find a mentor…and keep chugging along.

It gets better…

It really does.  Like with any other thing you try to do, at first you are pretty terrible at it, then you get good enough to be encouraging, then you hit a slump and THEN you start to be GOOD at it.  Giving up means you never get to the GOOD stage.  Personally, I look forward to the day I consider myself good at Voice Over…well, and skiing…AND golf…but again, that’s another story altogether.

 

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

 

Truth & Honesty

Encouragement, General, Voice Over

Welcome Back!

Thanks for reading, and if you are a new subscriber; Welcome and thanks for joining us!

A Note:

I’ll be travelling to Utah this week for family stuff, and since M-I-L’s house is without WiFi, or any internet for that matter – She’s turning 80 this week – I MAY not be able to post something next week.  Thanks for your understanding! (I’m just going to pretend that all of you are sitting around every Wednesday morning at 6AM breathlessly waiting for my blog to publish – Please don’t crush my fantasies!).

What’s it all about, anyway?

So, what is this week’s post all about?  Well, there are a couple reasons for me writing on this topic today.  First, my friend and fellow VO Artist Joshua Alexander asked me (along with several other VO Artist/Bloggers) to write a short piece about the topic for a book he is putting together now.  Second, I’ve seen a fair amount of discussion about it on social media this week.

We have a responsibility

Yes, yes…I know…responsibility is a very long 4-letter word that most people don’t like.  Like it or not everyone has responsibilities, but in this case, I am talking about the responsibilities we have both as VO artists and as bloggers.  As a VO artist, we have a responsibility to be truthful to the script.  As bloggers we have a responsibility to our readers to be truthful regarding our topic.  These are slightly different responsibilities, but, similar enough that they are accomplished in some of the same ways.

What does it mean to be truthful to the script?

This should be self-evident, but apparently not to everyone.  As a VO, we are working with words and thoughts that someone else has provided.  MOST times, that someone else also provides a clue as to what they expect from the artist when delivering their file.

There ARE some easy things to accomplish…

While the client typically tells you things like how to structure the file name, what file format they expect to receive and things like sample rate and bit resolution – those things are easy to follow.  You should absolutely be paying attention to these, and if you are not, and are not booking much, this may be the reason.  The other very important, and often overlooked things to pay attention to is the length of the spot.  A :30 second spot should not be delivered as a :45 second audio.

Simple.

But that’s not what I’m talking about here.

I’m talking about the script itself; topic, audience, tone, pace – to name a few.

It’s important to remain true to the author’s intent of the script.  Who are you? Who are you talking to?  Why are you saying the things you are saying?  What are you trying to accomplish in the piece?

How do you KNOW these things?

Many times, the author/client either tells you outright or infers it in the “production Notes” or “VO Direction”.  You see things like an age range (For the record, the age range does NOT refer to your ACTUAL age, but your “Voice Age”…how old you SOUND). Other things you’ll see as direction are things like: Natural, believable, upbeat, conversational, “Real Person”, excited…more descriptive words than I can list here. Sometimes they’ll tell you their audience, or who they are trying to reach.  There are, however, times when you get little or NO direction for the script.

In those cases…

Believe it or not, in those cases (which frankly can be the most fun), it’s up to the artist to come up with the answers on their own.  This is a very long-winded way to say: You make it up. That’s right, make it up.  But not out of whole cloth.

We interrupt this broadcast…

To take a short trip down the rabbit hole of that last phrase “out of whole cloth”. What the HECK does that mean?  Well, here is what The Free Dictionary by Farlex has to say about it:

“To fabricate something entirely fictional or utterly false and not based on reality at all. A reference to tailors who would falsely advertise garments being made “out of whole cloth,” when, in reality, they were pieced together from different cuts.”

Why did you take that detour?

Bear with me, I’ll get to that – but back to my thoughts before the brief recess.

When we as VO artists “make up” the context for the script, we must do it by reading, and re-reading, the script and whatever direction you DID get to come up with something plausible.  The good news is this is a skill that can be learned (and improved over time) and it doesn’t require a degree in literature either. The FUN part is you can usually come up with more than one completely plausible backstories for the script that way, and give the client something they didn’t KNOW they wanted.  In any case, you MUST stay true to the context all the way through.

In all honesty…

Even when you get a full description of the context to the script, you can still give the client something unique that they may like better than what they originally had in mind…on the SECOND or subsequent take.  Bottom line: Always pay attention to the direction given and give the client what they are asking for on the first take.  If you feel like you have a great unique take on the script, go ahead and record that on a subsequent take.

And now, honesty in blogging…

Frankly, I use “blogging”, but this applies to any written or spoken/video content as well.  BE HONEST on the topic.  And what do I mean by “BE HONEST”?  There are actually a couple layers to this, in my mind.

Top layer…

This should go without saying, but as I tell my kids all the time; The things that go without saying are USUALLY the things that need to be SAID the most.  The top layer of being honest in your writing, whether it be a blog, a book, a podcast or a script for your YouTube video is this:  Know your topic and share it honestly.  If you do not really KNOW the topic you either need to spend some time researching it before writing, or just find something else to write about.  If, like me, you write a weekly blog, I suspect your intention (like me) is to help as many people as possible.  Trust me, you’re not helping anyone if what you write is misleading or just not true.

Remember the rabbit hole earlier?

This is how it relates.  I used an outdated, or not well-known phrase, a dated figure of speech, that many reading (most maybe?), wouldn’t recognize or understand.  I myself knew what it meant in a general sense but had no real sense of where it came from or how it came to mean what it means now.  So…and here is where it deals with the topic…I looked it up.  I did some research so I could make sure that everyone reading understood it, and knew I wasn’t just making it up.  Anyone sharing information should be doing the same, not just with outdated phrases, but with any details you may not be clear on so that you don’t either confuse or mislead a reader.

Underlying layer…

This one sort of gets me…underlying the whole thing here is putting yourself out as an “expert”, when you’re really not.  There are so MANY people out there trying to come across as an expert, and leading people astray.  This is a VERY competitive industry, being off course by even a little bit can slow down someone’s career, or even discourage them from continuing.  BE HONEST about your experience and expertise.

I get it…

Really, I do.  I started blogging because the google machine likes fresh content on your website.  You want to get ranked in the search engines, and you want people to be able to find you.  We ALL do.  But when I decided a blog would do the trick with the Google machine, it wasn’t just THAT that drove me to start writing.  I knew there were others out there, like me, who struggled to get started.  So, I started my blogging with a series of posts that talked about all the things I learned as I began this journey in voice over…I thought I MIGHT be able to help some people take a slightly shorter road than I did, and I wanted to get it down while it was still fresh in my mind.

I’m not an expert.

And I made sure that people all knew that this “Getting Started” series was a fresh look at what happened to me, and it was definitely “fresh”.  I made sure to tell people how long I’d been at this, and also spent some time directing them toward more experienced experts who had helped me along the way.

YOUR responsibility as a reader/consumer of information.

We as content creators and VO artists have a responsibility, but so do the consumers of that information. Make SURE to vet the people whose content you consume!  Are they presenting themselves as experts?  Can you verify that?  Can you substantiate what these people are saying through independent research?   Sadly, you MUST.  YOU have a responsibility to verify/validate the information you receive.  There are far too many fakes and charlatans out there.  As Abraham Lincoln says: “Just because you read it on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true”.  Or something like that.

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

If you haven’t already, please feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss anything!

Six Degrees of Separation

Encouragement, General, Voice Over

Welcome Back!

Thanks for reading, and if you are a new subscriber; Welcome and thanks for joining us!

I tell my kids this…

I received an email from a friend with a nice winding story in it about coincidences and connectedness.  One thing led to another and things just sort of came full circle.  This email reminded me about a couple things I tell my kids:

  • You never know how something you say or do is going to impact someone.
  • Remember that the toes you step on today may one day be connected to the butt you have to kiss.

The email…

Just to not leave you hanging, the email I mentioned told a story about how this friend and I reconnected via email not long ago. This after 20+ years of not seeing or talking to one another. As fortune would have it, he is an author and I narrate audio books.  As it turns out, I was not going to be able to do justice to the narration of his books, but it has sparked an ongoing discussion over email (we literally live on opposite sides of the planet).

In this most recent email, he told me about how some things I wrote in an email encouraged him to start looking into how to best market his books, but he also encouraged me to write my book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Getting Started in Voice Over (But Didn’t Know Who to Ask).

Along the way…

Along the way in doing research for marketing his books, he ran across another old friend who mentioned he could translate his books from English to Italian at a very reasonable price.  After receiving the first 100 or so pages, he asked his daughter to review it (she is fluent in Italian), which she did making a few minor edits for readability.  She then mentioned that she wanted to compare the English and Italian versions, but didn’t really have time to read along in both languages, so he suggested she use the audio version of the book in English to listen to while she read the Italian version.

She loved that idea!

And mentioned how much she loved audiobooks, and would like to narrate the Italian version of his book, but she didn’t have the professional setup she used to use to do VO at a previous job.  First, he was floored to learn she had done VO previously, and then he mentioned he knew someone who had written a book that contained a couple chapters about setting up your home studio.  He then bought her a copy of my book so she could narrate his book!

It all came full circle.

From me saying something that encouraged him, to him encouraging me to write my book, all the way around to his daughter using the book he encouraged me to write (and helped me with it a great deal I might add) to be able to narrate his books!  It seems everything in this world is related in some way.

Another example.

I know that last bit doesn’t really relate fully to the two quotes I tell my kids, but this one does.  Same friend, in one of our earliest “reconnecting” email exchanges, mentioned that something I had said offhand while we were stationed together in Southern Italy had affected how he approaches things.  The comment had no real meaning to me, but he remembered it 20+ years later.  While we were there, he repaired combo TV sets for the Navy Exchange video rental store (WAY back when you had to actually rewind tapes to watch a movie at home).  He was turning it over to me as he was leaving and asked how it was going.  I told him I had pretty much everything that could be repaired fixed, and he asked how, since it took forever to get parts delivered.

A different approach.

I told him I just talked to the store and asked if I could take all the TV’s and make as many working sets as possible out of the pool of parts in the total lot.  I was able to fix 80-90 percent of them simply by pilfering parts from another set.  All I said was it turns out the store was interested in having as many working units as possible and didn’t mind losing 2-3 to make all the others work.  That comment, a throw away for me, changed how he approaches projects now.  You just never know what impact something you say may have, even if it is just a “throw away” comment.

One more example.

At the risk of boring you to death, I’ll give you an example about toes and butts too.  So, there I was on Facebook when I should have been working and saw a post (I won’t tell you what it was about) that rubbed me a bit wrong.  Admit it, this has happened to all of you I’m sure.  So, being me, I made a somewhat snarky, maybe even mildly offensive, comment about the original post.  Turns out: Th subject of the original post was also in that group and saw my comment. They definitely called me out, and I had to spend some time groveling and apologizing (rightfully so).  To make matters worse, the person in question is a talent agent for both VO and acting.  Locally.  Where I am trying to get work.

Yep, they were attached.

You guessed it, the toes I stepped on were attached to a butt I would now have to kiss if I wanted to be able to get any work from this agent.  NOT a great place to be.  As it turns out, that agent was kind and gracious and not ONLY forgave me, but also added me to their roster.  Things rarely turn out that well, so I consider myself fortunate.

Same is true with newbies to any industry.

In recent days I’ve see some pretty epic flame spraying of new talent in one particular Facebook group.  This flame spraying relates to a newbie asking a question (admittedly over and over and over again) and more “seasoned” pros responding in very sarcastic ways, putting this person down.  Now, I GET that this was pretty annoying – but there is no reason to actively discourage someone from pursuing their dream because they are (as yet) ignorant of what’s required.  I even tried to mention something along the lines of “Give the guy a break and direct him instead of castigating him”, but my attempt at being reasonable was drowned by the cacophony of people piling on, basically telling this youngster they were stupid and should try some other line of work.

It takes as much effort…

It takes about the same amount of effort to put someone down as it does to lift them up.  So why not spend the effort guiding them and lifting them up instead of lambasting them publicly? Give the best advice you can, and if they don’t listen or take the advice, then when they return with the same question later, just ignore them. As my mom used to say “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything”.

So what’s the message here?

This is actually an easy message to decipher, but I will lay it out explicitly anyway.  ALWAYS be nice. Be kind (as they say on Quora).  At the end of the day, we don’t know HOW something we say (or write) or do is going to impact someone.  You may not even be talking TO someone for your words to have an effect.  I think we would ALL like the Karma we send out into the universe to return to us in a positive way, and the only way that’s going to happen is for it to be sent in a positive way to begin with.

We all have struggles.

Every one of us, regardless of how we try to make it look on social media, have struggles in our lives.  Sometimes large, sometimes small. We have no idea what a given person may be going through, and even if it is something terrible, they may not want everyone to know.  It’s imperative we remember that just because someone may be being “not very nice”, that is no reason not to treat them with respect and kindness; they may well be going through something in their life that is making them act that way.

And here is the kicker.

One day YOU are going to be the “not so nice” person, or the newbie, or ignorant of some requirement detail.  Wouldn’t you want people to treat YOU with kindness and respect?

 

 

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Slow Days

Encouragement, General, Training, Voice Over

Welcome Back!

Thanks for reading, and if you are a new subscriber; Welcome and thanks for joining us!

Slow Days

A long time ago when I was stationed in Charleston, SC I used to joke that local licensed drivers were issued a calendar every year to let them know which days were slow days, and which were stupid days…and that the reality was every day was a stupid day.  No offense to Charleston drivers here, I was young and stupid myself those days, so it was really all me.  As it turns out, I’ll be heading down to the Charleston area next weekend to visit my daughter and have a look at my property to start building, so I’ll let you know if traffic is still the same.

What does any of that have to do with Voice Over?

Nothing really, but when I decided to write about slow days in this business and some ideas of how to deal with them, that came to mind.  Probably BECAUSE I’m headed down on Friday and have been thinking about it.

Slow Days (CONT)

What I really want to talk about this week is what we can do as independent artists when things slow down, as they seem to have done this week.  The truth is, auditioning and recording are not the only things our businesses need, and having some slow periods is actually pretty useful for you to catch up on some of the tasks you’ve been putting off.  Below are some ideas for you to consider, in no particular order.

Marketing

Yes, I know it is a dirty word, but when you are not busily auditioning or recording for clients it is a PERFECT time to do some of that marketing you’ve been putting off.  I’m no marketing expert, but I can think of two off the top of my head.  If you lack experience or confidence in your ability to market, maybe taking some marketing training would be a really good idea while you have the time.  Check out Joshua Alexander’s website for training opportunities.  He’s been at this a while and really knows his stuff. If he doesn’t tickly your fancy, maybe Marc Scott is your guy.  Either of these guys can help you jump start your business.

Start Local

If training is not your gig, then the easiest way to start marketing yourself is to reach out to businesses in your own community to see where they may need help.  Think about radio stations for example.  Do they hire local talent for their radio spots?  Any advertising agencies or production houses in your area?  Introduce yourself and let them know you are available to help them.  Remember: You are not trying to “sell” your services, you are both trying to establish relationships AND looking for places where your services will help your prospective clients.  Marketing is not about what clients can do for you, it’s about what you can do for them.

Work on a new DEMO reel

Have you been thinking about getting into a new or different genre of VO?  Now is a good time to start working on putting together a demo reel to highlight your abilities in that genre.  Maybe you want to do character voices for animation or branch out into audio books or e-learning.  While things are slow, it is a perfect time to broaden your horizons into something new.  Which leads directly into…

Training/Coaching

Yep, I know those are dirty words, but maybe now is the time to devote some time to training.  If you are looking to branch out into something new, you’ll need to catch up with the latest trends in that genre, and you’ll definitely want someone to coach you in preparation for recording a new reel.   If nothing else you’ll learn whether or not you have what it takes in that genre, and at the end of the day you could just have a shiny new demo reel to use in that first suggestion (Marketing).  Just make sure you are working with someone who is working in, and has experience with, the genre you are aiming for,

Improve your space/equipment

It may seem counterintuitive to invest when times are slow, but slow periods are a great time to take care of some of those annoyances in your setup, or to upgrade equipment or software.  You never want to change equipment in the middle of a hot run and learning new or upgraded software takes time.  Do it while there are not lots of auditions pouring in.  Maybe you need to add more acoustic treatment to your room, or have been wanting to build that awesome booth to move out of your spouses walk-in closet; now is a great time for that.

Start blogging/Write a book

You don’t think you have it in you?  Neither did I.  And here I am writing a weekly blog.  To be totally honest, I do struggle at times to come up with topics to write about, but there always seems to be SOMETHING to say.  You can even get some great ideas from reading other peoples blogs.  Now, before you get the idea I’m suggesting you plagiarize your favorite blogger, what I am suggesting is that a lot of the time reading other blogs give me things to think about which leads to new topics.  You could even put a new “spin” on someone’s topic, or spin something wholly different from it.

Wait…write a BOOK?

Yeah, write a book.  I did, and I did it by writing a weekly blog and then bringing together all of them that dealt with the same topic and then smoothing them out into something that flowed better.  I never thought I’d be a published author, but here I am and it was easier than I thought (don’t get me wrong, I didn’t say it was EASY…just easier than I thought it would be.)  Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it.

Learn something new

Not very accomplished at engineering your audio; maybe relying on a professional engineer to do that for you?  Why not take some online lessons for audio engineering?  If you are a Studio One or RX8 user, Don Baarns is pure gold! He offers a couple recorded series for S1 and RX, but he can also be booked for one-on-one individual coaching to help you not only improve your audio quality but to understand what your software is doing.  He is priceless.

Take an acting class

Believe it or not, as I have written about before, voice over, no matter what the genre is acting as much as it is for stage or film.  It may not seem like it, but every time you get behind the mic you are playing a role.  Acting classes help you learn how to break down a script to find the subtext, which is what clients REALLY want the audience to hear.  Especially if you are working in audio books, acting classes are invaluable.  And if you’re like me, it COULD lead to an actual stage or film acting career to go along with your VO.

Unclutter your space

I know, not fun.  But neither is sifting through piles of paperwork trying to find that one invoice that either needs to be paid or for the client that needs to be reminded to pay.  An uncluttered desk makes working easier, and if you clean it up and file everything, next year when it’s tax time life will be a LOT easier.

Catch up with past clients/contacts

Now would be a good time (OK, ALWAYS is a good time!) to reach out to past clients and contacts just to see how they’re doing, see if they need any help and most importantly; Keep YOU on the top of their mind so you are the first one they think of when they DO need something.

ALWAYS something to do!

No matter what you decide to do during slow periods, there is always SOMETHING to do to keep your business moving forward. Don’t let slow periods discourage you; take advantage of them to get all the things you have been meaning to done now o they are not hanging over your head later when things pick back up!

 

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The Producer and Coaches Perspective

General, Training, Voice Over

Welcome Back!

Thanks for reading, and if you are a new subscriber; Welcome and thanks for joining us! I wouldn’t normally post a guest blog so closely with another, but this week I am breaking all the rules.  Below you’ll find an article written by my VO coach Scott Burns.  Along with coaching, Scott is a producer, AND VO artist himself.  He writes below from the perspective of coach and producer.  I hope you enjoy this insight from Scott!

Intro…

Gary, thank you so much for inviting me to share my perspectives of not only being a Voiceover Coach, but that from my perch as a producer as well.  I’ve been so fortunate to have been able to work on both sides of the glass over the years and the experience has lent favorably to how I approach auditioning.  Instead of the, “Here I am…I hope they like me” approach, I’ve adjusted it to, “How can I help them hire me?”

Who’s listening, anyway?

Most audition listening parties involve the audio engineer who’s going to produce the commercial, narration or animation project you’re reading for.  Thus, I tend to aim my reads towards the engineer who has probably already built the basic soundtrack or pieced together the video timeline. If I provide them with what they’re looking for, instead of, “Here’s me reading the words just as you punctuated including the typo,” there’s a better chance my read might persuade them to slip it into their “Selects” folder.

So how DO you provide reads they’re looking for?  This where self-direction comes into play. In essence…you become a coach.

Back in the day…

There was a time when voice actors were invited to audition by traveling to a local recording studio, mingle with other talent in a waiting area, be handed copy to familiarize themselves with and eventually be escorted to a room, “where the magic happens!” The audio engineer would adjust the microphone to your height, make sure to point out the volume adjustments for the headphones, then shut the heavy door with a whoosh…leaving you to settle in to the sudden yet comforting silence.

There were benefits to in-person auditions…

While you’d lament that you should have actually familiarized yourself with the copy rather than spending way too much time ‘catching up’ with fellow VO talent in the lobby, you knew the engineer would offer the opportunity for you to do a second take if the first one lacked luster.  You might even have the ad agency’s creative director there to offer clarity as to what they’re wanting to hear.  Ahhh…the good old days.

NOT anymore…

Now of course we’re going it alone. Just you, the foam and lot of ambition.

And how DO you stand out?

So how CAN voice talent know if their performances are actually resonating with their intended target audience of producers, writers and casting directors?  Are all the workshops and classes they’ve invested in are paying off?  What guidance IS there to know if they’re turning in flawless auditions or not so off the mark their reads are set aside for the ad agency’s office Holiday Party for a good and hardy laugh?

Sadly, there are no guarantees to assure you’ll book a job, even if you have checked all the boxes for ‘perfect presentation.’  You just have to take solace in the fact that, in voiceover, “It’s not rejection…it’s selection.”

Remember, they WANT you to be the one!

Casting directors and producers WANT you to be good!  They have a lot at stake to find the perfect candidate for a project that’s probably 89% done, but just needs the cherry of your vocal performance to top it all off.  The last thing they want to do is suffer listening through countless lousy auditions, putting them in a foul mood and questioning why they got into advertising in the first place.  (Mother wanted them to become a dentist to begin with and now here they are…trapped…with nary a trace of Novocain to numb the pain!)

Bad auditions….

Based on my experience from casting spots for the ad agency I produce for, you’d be amazed at just how MANY bad auditions are submitted regularly.  Not just from the Pay to Play sites either…but from various talent agencies.  I’m not sure if some actors feel like producers can get an essence of what they’d sound like on the commercial simply by reading into their iPhone while standing in the kitchen…or if we can make the leap of “here’s what I’d sound like reading your heartfelt public service announcement” while auditioning from my car.

If you can’t be in a perfect space, do the best you can…

Mind you, I’ve auditioned from my car!  I’ve even booked a job where I’d auditioned from my car! So yes, there are exceptions.  I just had the presence of mind to utilize a great quality mic in a secluded part of the town I was visiting.  I lucked out of course, but had I done the read with the window down and car in motion as the young person was apparently doing for her audition it’s doubtful my submission would made the first round of cuts.  (The holiday party folder, yes.)

P2P sites…

In the case of Pay to Play sites, take heart in knowing that around 80% of the auditions submitted are pretty bad. So even though you’re competing globally, the chances are if auditioning skills are GOOD, your reads will consistently float to the top.

Even from talent agents…

With regards to auditioning through talent agencies, here’s a few things topping my PEEVES list you’d be wise to avoid doing.

 

  • Mislabeling your file. Some projects require a ton of organization to keep all the names and roles straight.  So if it’s requested you label your file: Anncr_PatSmith_VOagency  and the talent labels it: Pat S.   (or some other variation), then there’s a real good chance that file is going to get lost in the shuffle or tossed to the trash.
  • Sending a file that’s NOT an mp3. Wav, Aiff, Mpeg4 or anything other than the industry standard mp3 just tells me you’re a novice and might be difficult to work with.  (OK I’m not that harsh really…but it is annoying)
  • Loosely edited files. I’ve had auditions come in where you click to play and don’t hear anything until about 5 seconds in.  IF the reader sounds decent enough, I’ll go ahead and trim it down for the listening party participants…but that’s an added step I can’t guarantee many producer/engineers would have the time or patience to do.
  • Unmanicured audio. I’m not asking that you run your audio through every de-clicker, lip smacker and breath sucker plug-in on the market…but DO trim, clean and make it sound as broadcast ready as you possibly can.  Remember that a lot of other talent are taking these extra steps necessary to present their vocal wares, so you’re being compared.

They won’t listen “through” the bad audio

More and more we can’t rely on the decision makers to ‘connect the dots’ as to how you might sound on their commercial, narration or game project.  In years past they might hear an audition come through that was less than stellar quality-wise…but they were told, “Oh he’s on vacation and did this over the phone for Jenny at the front desk.  We’re lucky she had her cassette recorder handy!”

It has to be good NOW…

Today it’s do-or-die.  You’ve got to knock them out of their socks and off the chair from the moment they hit play.  Remember too that your audition is a marketing tool.  If your voice isn’t right for the particular project they’re producing…there’s a chance you’d be PERFECT for another one they have in the works.  Again, speaking from experience here as the owner of the company I work for actually said, “Oh wow…not for this spot, but keep her in mind for another spot I’m writing.”

OK, so how do we knock their socks off?

“So, Scott, you’ve told me what NOT to do. How about something TO do that will help me when I’m sitting all alone in my Self-Director chair?!”

Well, I’d honestly suggest you consider investigating a variety of well-respected industry professionals to help with a tune up every couple of months or so.

“But Scott, wouldn’t that take clients away from you?!!”

“Not for long,” I’d reply.  Because I always provide candy for performances well done!

Learn from those that have gone before you.

No, of course that’s not the case…Zoom meeting calls don’t have that feature on their platform yet.  But I do believe it’s wise to seek the opinions of others in the voiceover industry.  We all have different doors used to enter this business and perspectives may vary on how to manage one’s way through their voiceover career.  One thing’s for sure, working with a person who’s learned ‘on the job’ their entire career can shave years off yours having to do the same.

At some point, you HAVE to audition…

Mind you, I’d caution against OVER coaching yourself!  I’ve seen cases where some people settle into a comfort zone and as long as they’re “in school” they’re excused for not booking work.

Again, tune ups are fantastic!  With the ever-changing trends in advertising, it’s good to stay fresh with what’s booking.  The onus is then on the performer to apply which methods and techniques work best for them.

KEEP PRACTICING!

In closing I’d say the best way to achieve greatness and dazzle producers with your auditions is to continue reading everything around you ALOUD.  It helps build your memory muscles for eye-to-brain-to-mouth functionality, breathing and more. Truth be told I talk to myself while driving to work every morning.  It helps me develop different character voices and keeps my improv skills nimble by reading billboards, signage on trucks and most everything I observe along the way. So far I’ve been lucky not to be pulled over by the Nut-Job Police.  Give it time.

Scott Burns is a highly sought-after coach and demo producer with voiceover credits including Nintendo’s Super Mario Games (Bowser), Nickelodeon, Amazon, Miller Beer, Microsoft, T-Mobile and more. Burns day job includes casting and audio production of radio  commercials as well as video projects for the Seattle area advertising/marketing agency, Destination Marketing.

Thanks Scott!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Voice Over from my friend and cvoach Scott.  He brings many year’s experience to this craft, and has helped me immeasurably to become a better VO artist.  If you’re interested in possibly discussing coaching opportunities with Scott, or to book him for a VO gig you might have, you can reach out to him through his website: Book Scot Burns.  Thanks for reading, see you next week!

If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment below to let me know.  If you DIDN’T enjoy it, well, I’d like to hear from you too!

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